📖 Five Misconceptions About the Bible

(And Better Alternatives for Thinking About Scripture)

To say that the Bible is important to Christians is a massive understatement. The late Marcus Borg rightly wrote that:

“Conflict about how to see and read the Bible is the single greatest issue dividing Christians in North America today.”

This conflict — over what the Bible is, how it should be interpreted, and how (or whether) it should inform our daily lives — has become a flash point for heated discussions online, within families, and throughout religious communities.

But what if some of our assumptions and expectations about the Bible are grounded in misconceptions? And what if those misconceptions are, as a result, keeping us from appreciating and engaging the Bible in the most helpful and transformative ways?

Below are a few of the most common misconceptions I encounter — and alternative perspectives that might help us see and approach the Bible differently. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it does reflect some of the most common biblical misconceptions I hear regularly.

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❌ Misconception #1: Something being “biblical” automatically equals “good.”

✅ Alternative: Not everything in the Bible is good — and that’s okay.

Lots of things are “biblical,” meaning they can be found in the Bible — but that doesn’t mean they’re good or worthy of imitation. The Bible includes beautiful and life-giving teachings: commands to love, to share, to pursue justice and peace so that everyone has what they need. But it also contains commands to commit genocide, endorsements of slavery, and attempts to silence women.

The only thing that’s clear about the Bible is that the Bible isn’t clear.

It’s a complex library of texts about which we are not bound to reach the same conclusions as our spiritual ancestors. In fact, the Bible shows them changing their minds when faced with new experiences or deeper insights into God and humanity. We are invited to do the same.

Seeing the Bible this way allows us to evaluate each text based on its contribution: Does it move us and the world toward more love, justice, and compassion? Or does it reflect an idea we need to leave in the past?

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❌ Misconception #2: We can just tell people “what the Bible says.”

✅ Alternative: The moment we interpret the Bible, we bring ourselves into the conversation.

This misconception assumes we can approach Scripture with pure objectivity — that “the Bible says what it means and means what it says.” But here’s the truth:

The Bible doesn’t say anything. The Bible reads. We make it say.

In other words, the moment we move from reading a passage to explaining it, we are firmly in the realm of interpretation — and interpretation is never objective. It’s shaped by our experiences, assumptions, culture, and theological background—what we’ve been taught.

A more honest and helpful approach might be to say:

“Here’s my understanding/interpretation of this text…”

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❌ Misconception #3: The Bible speaks with one voice.

✅ Alternative: The Bible is a conversation, not a monologue.

The technical term for the “one voice” idea is univocality. It’s often tied to beliefs in biblical inerrancy or infallibility — neither of which the Bible claims for itself.

The Bible is a library of texts, written by many authors over many centuries, shaped by diverse contexts and experiences. These voices often disagree, and they show us a trajectory of learning, wrestling, and growth.

What we often call a contradiction is only a problem if we expect the Bible to say the same thing from cover to cover. When we let go of that expectation, we can begin to see the Bible as a dialogue — a layered conversation among our spiritual ancestors, that we are invited to join in on today.

An alternative approach is to see the Bible as a diverse, dynamic tradition, one that models the very growth and tension we experience today.

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❌ Misconception #4: The Bible was written to and for us today.

✅ Alternative: The Bible can be helpful for us, but it wasn’t written to us.

The Bible is incredibly important to me. I’ve given my life to learning, studying, and teaching it. But that doesn’t mean it was written to or for me.

The Bible is, quite literally, someone else’s mail.

It was composed by people in specific contexts, for other people in specific contexts. And while it wasn’t written to us, that doesn’t make it irrelevant for us.

When we begin by understanding the contexts that shaped the text — the historical, cultural, and social realities — we’re far more equipped to apply its wisdom in meaningful and responsible ways today. (At least, some parts of it. See below.)

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❌ Misconception #5: All biblical texts carry the same weight.

✅ Alternative: Not every passage is equally helpful, beautiful, or binding.

We already make these decisions all the time. There are parts of the Bible we find less compelling or relevant, and we don’t engage with them much — if at all. That’s not laziness or faithlessness. That’s using discernment and wisdom.

Think of the Bible like a library. When you walk into a library, you don’t assume that every book is equally current, relevant, or reflects the best information we have. Some books are there because they were important at one point, even if they don’t speak to our current moment, today.

If we gave every text equal weight, some would lead us into injustice and unkindness today. For example:

I give more weight to Paul’s proclamation in Galatians 3 that in Christ the hierarchies that divide us are rendered powerless—there is no longer male or female, for example— than I do to Pseudo-Paul’s command for women to be silent in church.

One is a future we haven’t yet fully embraced. The other reflects a tired, unjust pattern we’re still trying to leave behind.

An alternative is to be honest about which texts we treat as normative — and why.

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🧩 What Would You Add?

Those are just five of the most common misconceptions I encounter in conversations about the Bible. There are many more, and I’d love to hear yours.

What assumptions or ideas about the Bible have you had to unlearn?
What alternative perspectives have helped you approach the Bible better?

Drop a comment below and let’s keep the conversation going.